The Music

We play good songs with a few miles on 'em.

Purists Beware! Tray Dahl & The Jugtime Ragband is not jug band, ragtime, or dixieland. It is an energetic amalgamation of all the popular styles of the 1920's/30's – jazz, a little blues, a bit of swing, a pinch old time gospel, and even classic showtunes – all immersed in an early 20th century New Orleans sound. We get people's feet stomping in a roaring twenties kind of way. Our sound has been described by many as “speakeasy” or “prohibition era” music. Our songs match the early New Orleans jazz/blues instrumentation combo of tenor banjo and trumpet with upbeat dixieland and swing tempos underlying a heavy dose of powerful 1920's inspired vocals stylistically akin to Bessie Smith, Clara Smith, and Louis Armstrong. Our main influences include Louis Prima, Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong and the Boswell Sisters. We play songs composed by some of the best songwriters from the early and mid-twentieth century alongside our original tunes which are heavily influenced by their work. Our original songs are stories that take listeners back in time through the experiences of our main characters whose tales, so far, have taken place anywhere from the 1860's to 1930's.

5 song EP released December 2016 is now available for digital download! Search Tray Dahl & The Jugtime Ragband at your favorite digital music stores like itunes & Amazon. Have a listen to the samples below:

LIVE RECORDING - It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got that Swing (below) recorded at the Altamont Brewing Company in Asheville N.C. by Kevin Harvey. Asheville's own Je Widenhouse (trumpet: Firecracker Jazz Band and formerly of The Squirrel Nut Zippers) & Earl Sachais (trombone: Firecracker Jazz Band) accompanied us the entire evening. Take a listen...